Trip Report: Clouds Rest Backpacking, April 2026
Not a sound. Not a voice, not a footstep, not even the wind. Just the faint roar of waterfalls rising from Tenaya Canyon on one side and the Merced River on the other. We were standing on the summit of Clouds Rest at 9,926 feet, completely alone, looking out at a 360-degree view of a snow-dusted Yosemite with a sky so blue it looked fake.
Nobody else was up there. Nobody else was even on the trail.
That's what early April in Yosemite can give you if you know where to go.
| Detail | |
|---|---|
| Trip type | Private guided backpacking (1 client) |
| Route | Happy Isles → Mist Trail → JMT → Clouds Rest → Happy Isles |
| Dates | April 3-5, 2026 |
| Total distance | ~19.2 miles |
| Camp elevation | 7,100 ft |
| Summit elevation | 9,926 ft (Clouds Rest) |
| Nights | 2 |
Trail conditions as of early April 2026. Patchy snow above 9,000 feet, no traction gear required. Water sources flowing. Conditions change quickly in spring. Always check with the NPS before your trip.
The Ask
An international client from the UK booked me for a private guided backpacking trip. The goals were straightforward: waterfalls, a summit, and a backcountry campsite worth remembering. Early April in Yosemite is outside normal "permit season", which meant I could walk up to the Yosemite Valley Welcome Center and secure a wilderness permit for our desired trailhead, Happy Isles, without dealing with the Recreation.gov permit system.
The route I built for this trip hits all three requests in three days: the Mist Trail waterfall corridor on day one, a backcountry camp along the John Muir Trail with a direct view of Half Dome, and a Clouds Rest summit push on day two. Then a scenic descent back to the Valley on day three.
Pre-trip planning followed the same process I use for every guided trip. We locked in dates a month out, did a video call to discuss trip details, gear and clothing for the expected weather - and I provided the client with gear including tent, bear canister, cooking equipment, and all meals.
Camp Along the JMT
We started on a busy Friday afternoon. The shuttle to Happy Isles was packed to capacity, which is pretty standard even in early April. The crowds do thin fast once you're past Nevada Fall.
The Mist Trail was living up to its name. The granite staircase alongside Vernal Fall was soaked, and the spray was catching late afternoon sun just right. Rainbows in the mist. We stopped for a snack at the top of the fall, then continued up past the Mist Trail junction onto the JMT toward Little Yosemite Valley.
About 0.5 miles above Little Yosemite Valley, there's a small stream that crosses the trail. It's not always flowing, but in early April it was running well. We topped off our water and kept moving.
I have a few campsites along the JMT corridor between the Half Dome and Clouds Rest trail junctions that I use regularly. These aren't sites you'll find on a map or in an app. They're spots I've found over years of hiking this stretch. I wanted to give the client the choice, so we walked through two options. Both have a direct, unobstructed view of Half Dome. He chose the second one.
We dropped packs, walked a few hundred yards to Sunrise Creek to fill water for the evening, then came back and set up camp. Dinner was white chicken chili, eaten while watching the sun set behind Half Dome. The alpenglow hit the high peaks to our south as the sky shifted from gold to pink. We stayed up watching stars for a while before calling it.
By morning, there was frost on the bear canisters. We ate breakfast and watched a steady stream of hikers ascending the Half Dome cables in the distance, tiny figures moving up the granite face in the early light.
I camp in this JMT corridor on most of my guided backpacking trips. Every site I use looks directly at Half Dome, and I let clients choose the one that feels right. Check the 2026 trip roster to see upcoming dates.
Half Dome's northwest face and cables route from the Clouds Rest trail, showing the granite textures and steep sections that make this wilderness approach so rewarding
The Summit
The goal for day two was Clouds Rest. From camp at 7,100 feet, it's roughly 4 miles and about 3,000 vertical feet to the summit at 9,926 feet.
We filled water at Sunrise Creek before starting. The trail climbs steadily through forest, mostly dry, with no reliable water until a spring we found partway up. We topped off there and kept pushing.
Around 9,000 feet, we hit the first patchy snow. Nothing deep, nothing icy. We didn't need microspikes or snowshoes at any point. The wind was steady up here though, enough to make us layer up. We stopped for lunch with a sweeping view opening up to the south and west, the kind of view that makes you set your food down and just stare for a minute.
The last thousand feet of gain had a few more snow patches but nothing technical. About three hours after leaving camp, we were on top.
And then the wind just stopped. Completely. At 9,926 feet, the highest point for miles in any direction, not a breath of air moving. My client noticed it first. It made the silence feel physical, like the whole park had gone quiet so you could hear the waterfalls rising from the canyons below.
I don't know how to overstate what Clouds Rest gives you. Half Dome is right there, close enough that it feels like you could reach out and touch the northeast face. Tenaya Canyon drops away below. You hear waterfalls across the canyon. To the north, east, and south, every high peak was dusted in fresh snow from recent storms. The sky was clean and blue and enormous.
We had the entire summit to ourselves. Not a single person on the trail in either direction. For 40 minutes we sat there eating snacks, taking photos, and I walked through every peak, valley, lake, and landmark I could identify. Where routes go. What connects to what. How the terrain links together across days of travel.
The client was especially interested when I described the route for my 8-day High Sierra Lakes Traverse, my signature trip for 2026 that starts in Tuolumne Meadows, threads through a chain of high-country lake basins, and finishes with a Half Dome summit before descending into the Valley. From the top of Clouds Rest, you can actually see sections of that route stretching out to the east. There's still space available on that trip. It's the one I'm most excited about this season.
The Way Down
We packed up and retraced our steps. The descent was almost better than the climb because everything that had been at our backs on the way up was now in front of us. We stopped constantly for photos and video. Even with all the pausing, we glided downhill, hit the spring for a water refill, continued to Sunrise Creek for another fill, and rolled back into camp about five and a half hours after starting.
Dinner was beef stroganoff. Then we gathered sticks and built a small fire in an existing rock ring near camp. Fires are permitted in this elevation zone, and established fire rings are scattered through the area. We lit it just before sunset and watched the western sky turn orange, then red, then pink. Stayed warm by the fire for a couple of hours before turning in.
Heading Out
Last morning, no rush. We took our time with breakfast, packed up camp slowly, and started the hike down. The sky was blue and clear and Half Dome looked as good as it ever has from that angle.
It's always bittersweet to leave the backcountry. The transition from trail to pavement, from quiet to crowds, from your own pace to everyone else's. On the way down we stopped at the top of Nevada Fall to sit and look around, then again at the top of Vernal Fall. As we descended the wet granite steps below Vernal Fall, brilliant double rainbows arced through the mist with day hikers all around us, phones out, getting soaked and loving it.
The route to Clouds Rest offers incredible granite dome views, well-maintained trails through diverse terrain, and spectacular waterfalls during peak snowmelt season
Walking the last stretch back to Happy Isles, we talked about what we'd just done. Three days. Hit a nearly 10,000 feet of summit. Waterfalls, alpenglow, a campfire, a summit all to ourselves. The Merced River running alongside us, the Valley walls rising above.
I keep coming back to something John Muir wrote: "I only went out for a walk, and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in."
That's what three days in the Yosemite backcountry does. You go out. And you go in.
I'm Eric, owner of Yosemite Life and a professionally permitted Yosemite guide. I offer guided backpacking trips and private day hikes for people who want to see the parts of Yosemite most visitors never reach. The trip you just read about is exactly what a private guided backpacking trip looks like: I handle the permits, the gear, the meals, and the route. You show up and walk. If you want to plan something like this, let's talk.
